37 – Rustles in the dark

  “Death of the squad?” Elanil exclaimed as the menu disappeared.

  “Listen, I know you’re a completionist, but—” Nura started, but Elanil cut her short.

  “It’s different, I know, I know,” she quickly said. “Grab Gaspard. We’re getting out of here. I’ll cover your retreat.”

  She took out an arrow and was about to pull it onto the bowstring, but then decided to make a couple of arrangements first.

  [Ability acquired: Rain of Arrows]

  [Ability acquired: The call for ancestors]

  “Urgh, wish I had level ten.” Nura grinned, as she leaned over Gaspard and slung him over her shoulder. She did it with such ease as if it was something light, not a grown man. And this despite the fact that she had only just finished her duel with the nimble spider.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll reach it soon too,” Elanil assured her. “We just need to get out of this shithole now.”

  She set an arrow, ready to fire. She peered intently into the darkness, but so far could hear nothing but distant rustling.

  “I’m ready, let’s go,” Nura groaned under Gaspard’s weight, carefully stepping across the damp, uneven floor toward the tunnel that had led them into this mushroom-filled cavern.

  The danger crept up on them unnoticed and from a completely different direction than they expected. Just as Nura and Elanil approached the tunnel entrance, a spider darted out, rearing up and ready to launch its web at them.

  Elanil spun at the noise and reacted to the danger with lightning speed.

  [Knockback Arrow]

  The shining projectile struck the spider right in the belly, the part of its body least protected by chitin. The spider thought—if it even was capable of thinking—it would catch the fugitives off guard, but instead it only made its weak spot exposed to their weapons.

  The blow was so powerful that it knocked the arachnid onto its back. The creature convulsed, its legs curling and straightening as the electric current coursed through its body in painful waves. A high-pitched screech echoed repeatedly throughout the cavern. And then, from the darkness where Elanil had initially expected the attack, a similar shrill signal answered. It sounded as if its packmates had heard that their scout was in trouble and were now rushing to its aid.

  “Stealthy bastard,” Nura grumbled. “I didn’t even hear it approaching. Let’s try to get around it before the shock effect wears off.” She positioned Gaspard over her shoulder more comfortably and moved along the wall, trying not to touch the spider’s legs. “I hope there was only one on this side and we won’t be ambushed in the tunnel.”

  No sooner had she said this than her worst fears were immediately confirmed. From the gaping darkness of the entrance, two large black spiders leaped out at once. Just as silently as their fellow scout, who was still convulsing in the throes of agony.

  “Damn it!” Nura hissed. “They cut off our path, smart assholes!”

  Two successive shots, two arrows whistling through the air, both striking the eyes of each spider. Both spiders, almost in sync, jerked back with a squeal. But almost immediately, they went on the offensive again. Meanwhile, Elanil didn’t waste a second.

  [The call for ancestors] {Critical Hit: success}

  Not two, but four ghosts appeared. Glowing blue, they looked like they were woven from a myriad of fireflies. Fearsome warriors from bygone eras, in full battle gear: the masterfully forged armor, decorated with the unmistakable patterns of elite elven warbands. Their appearance was both magnificent and menacing. As if on command, they simultaneously raised their bows and drew their arrows. The ringing of four bowstrings pierced the damp air of the cave, and four arrows rained down upon the spiders, causing them to recoil in fear once again.

  “Nice!” Nura grinned approvingly at the spirits of elven ancestors, who already were charging the next attack on the spiders.

  Meanwhile, the humming grew louder behind them. A few moments before, it had sounded like an anxious rustling in the darkness; now it sounded much more like the pattering of a swarm of spiders, running to hunt.

  “What should we do now?” Nura asked, as if Elanil had a plan for such an occasion

  Elanil frantically recalled the map of Velesaar in her head. There were only two paths out of this chamber. The first was the one they had come from, the other led to the lower layer and started not very far from where they were. The entire elongated body of the cavern was a pocket, a dead end. It was unclear where the spiders had come from. Either the miners didn’t know about the hidden gullies in the stone, or they simply didn’t have access to them.

  Something had to be done immediately. The way back was apparently blocked. If the spiders had gotten through the cavern with the well, there was no telling how many more were lying in ambush. Fighting them in a narrow tunnel would be hopeless: a horde behind was pouring out of the hidden approaches to the mushroom chamber, and facing them was beyond the party’s strength.

  There was only one way left—forward. Could Elanil be one hundred percent sure that there wouldn’t be an ambush waiting ahead? Absolutely not.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “We’re going that way!” she nodded to the gaping hole of a tunnel leading further down.

  “Are you sure there is no spiders ahead?”

  Elanil smirked, as Velesaar’s words popped up in her head that she could never be one hundred percent sure of anything. “Word of an Elf. Now, move, move! I’ll cover your back.”

  Watching Nura disappear in the tunnel’s darkness, Elanil grinned at a funny detail about herself: in stressful situations, she either became extremely clumsy, as when the spider attacked Gaspard, or extremely focused like now. She only hoped that this composure of her was not arrogance.

  The ancestors held the line, but the spiders pressed. Besides, as Elanil suspected, there really were more of them in the tunnel. And now four spiders fought against four ghost warriors. This forced the ancestors to set aside their bows, draw their swords, and engage in melee combat.

  Furthermore, despite their ghostly nature, the ancestors could still sustain damage. One spider pierced one of them in the shoulder. His friend came to the rescue and, with a powerful swing of the sword, severed the spider’s chelicerae.

  While he was distracted rescuing his comrade-in-arms, another spider, taking advantage of his exposed flank, pierced him in the neck with its fangs. Almost exactly the same way the first spider had bitten Gaspard. Elanil flinched as the ghost’s eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent cry for help. The knight dropped his sword, fell to his knees, and vanished into the darkness.

  “Hold the line, guys!” Elanil commanded the remaining three. She then wondered, though, what was the point of cheering them on. Those were ghosts, called upon to protect their distant descendant at all costs. They clearly didn’t need words of encouragement.

  Turning toward the depths of the cave, where the movement of many eight-legged bodies was already discernible, she readied herself. The spiders were crawling along the walls and the floor, advancing like a tidal wave. Gaspard’s [Illumination] ability had faded recently. So now once again the meager glow of the mushrooms was the only source of illumination. Not counting the dim bluish radiance of the three ghostly elven knights.

  Elanil drew the arrow to its limit. She felt as if her entire body, from head to toe, had become one taut string. She waited for the moment when there would be enough spiders in the cave, but they wouldn’t have time to reach her. Fire!

  [Mortar] [Rain of Arrows]

  In a blink, the arrow split into five, then ten… no, there were many more of them! Elanil had no time to count or admire the beauty of her ability. She nodded to the ghostly warriors, “Thanks, guys!” Yes, they were just spirits, summoned temporarily to cover her retreat, but she couldn’t bring herself to treat them simply as disposables.

  Then she leapt toward the tunnel entrance, where Nura and Gaspard disappeared a little earlier.

  A rumble of incredible power roared behind her, so loud that it almost deafened her ears. Through this noise, the screeches of countless arachnids pierced the air. Almost surpassing the threshold of hearing, they barely reached Elanil’s ears just to be devoured by the next, even more overwhelming explosive wave.

  The cave was collapsing.

  Apparently Elanil overdid it with her ability combination. She was hoping to bring down the vault only in the mushroom cave. Or at least to send stalagmites and debris from the fragile-looking ceiling crashing down on the spiders. But it looked like the explosion of the [Mortar] volleys multiplied by the [Rain of Arrows] triggered a chain reaction.

  Elanil ran down the tunnel as fast as she could. She didn't need to look back; she could hear it collapsing behind her. The roar was gaining on her. At least, it was a good thing that this passage was not as narrow and crooked as the one they had used to get from the cavern with the well to the cavern with the mushrooms. Plus, it had a nice downward slope, making running away from certain death a pleasure.

  Elanil soon caught up with Nura, still carrying Gaspard on her back.

  “What the hell is going on there?” she puffed from under her burden.

  “Nothing serious, I just collapsed the cave,” Elanil replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “You what?”

  “No time for chatter, run, run!”

  Soon the passage stopped leading downwards and leveled out. It also widened slightly. They ran without slowing down, and soon Elanil noticed that the rumble behind them seemed to be getting further and further away. They likely passed a dangerous area and the rock here was stronger. Possibly granite. It was difficult to verify this since pitch-black darkness reigned all around. But fortunately, the floor was fairly level, there was nothing to trip over. Only now did Elanil notice that the air here didn’t feel as damp and saturated with mushroom vapors as it had just recently.

  “I think we threw it off,” she told Nura. The sounds of landslide subsided.

  “Are you sure?” Nura asked but was already removing the bard from her shoulders.

  The series of notifications answered for Elanil that at least this danger had passed.

  Quest: Rustles in the dark

  Status: Completed

  Description: You killed almost all the horde. And also reshaped the cave’s landscape

  Reward:

  0 XP

  “Urgh,” Nura grumbled at this one. “Zero XP for this whole mess and only because we were too far from the place? Not fair!”

  [System Notification]

  {Elanil: New Skill acquired} Destructor: low

  Description: Enemies are not the only ones to have weak spots. The terrain around you does too, allowing you to change it at your discretion.

  [System Notification]

  {Elanil: New Skill acquired} Ability merger: low

  Description: A successful combination of two abilities opened you a way for making future combinations that enhance your abilities or enhance your abilities and the abilities of your companions.

  “Ability merger?” Nura looked at the last one. “What did you do there?”

  “I set the [Mortar] as a single shot and multiplied it with the [Rain of Arrows].”

  “Nice trick! I’ve heard rare ability gives you such an opportunity. Ah, wish I also had some whoop-as combo of abilities…” she sighed dreamingly.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get them soon too, I’m sure. Actually, we need to test yours together with mine and with Gaspard’s. Maybe you already have some good combos. How’s Gaspard, by the way?”

  A rustling sound in the darkness followed: Nura checking on Gaspard.

  “He’s breathing. Looks like he’s still sleeping. How soundly some people sleep!”

  “He’s still recovering.”

  “Nice way to recover, if you ask me,” Nura chuckled. “Rode all the way on my back. Anyway, how did you know it would work out?”

  “What would work out? The combo of abilities or that they would collapse the cavern?”

  “No, I mean, that only the mushroom cavern would collapse.”

  “Err…”

  “You didn’t know, did you?” Nura exclaimed with a mix of amusement and fear. “To be honest, I don’t even know whether to be happy that everything worked out or afraid that next time your crazy improvisations will cost us our lives.”

  “Sorry, next time, I will be—”

  “Nah, don’t worry too much. You did the right thing—made a decision quickly. At a critical moment, hesitation is the worst. Oh look!”

  Elanil couldn’t see where Nura wanted her to look. But just in case, she tried to look around, hoping to see something in the darkness. And indeed, it worked: there was a glow ahead.

  “I hope, not mushrooms again,” Elanil grumbled.

  “Huh, a few days ago someone told me mushrooms were her favourite meal,” Nura laughed. “Something’s changed?”

  “Gaspard has raised a worthy successor, I see. Grab the bard, let’s see what else awaits us.”